How can PHP developers optimize their code for processing multiple files in a directory efficiently?

When processing multiple files in a directory, PHP developers can optimize their code by using the opendir() function to open the directory, looping through the files using readdir(), and closing the directory with closedir(). Additionally, utilizing functions like is_file() and file_get_contents() can help efficiently handle each file.

$dir = '/path/to/directory';
$files = array();

if ($handle = opendir($dir)) {
    while (false !== ($file = readdir($handle))) {
        if ($file != "." && $file != ".." && is_file($dir . '/' . $file)) {
            $files[] = file_get_contents($dir . '/' . $file);
        }
    }
    closedir($handle);
}

// Process files in $files array as needed